


More Than a Good Kid

by kaspsass, Lafayetti



Series: bmc demigod au [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Adventures!, Alternate Universe-Demigods, Camp Half-Blood, Demigods, Fluff and Angst, Gay, M/M, boyf riends — Freeform, i love this au with all my heart, jeremys mom is aphrodite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-21 11:54:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11943636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaspsass/pseuds/kaspsass, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lafayetti/pseuds/Lafayetti
Summary: Jeremy didn't ask to be a Halfblood.(Or the bmc demigod au that a few people asked for)





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> hello! welcome to the be more chill demigod au that you may have always wanted! enjoy the ride!

“Run, Jeremy! I’ll meet you back at camp!” Jeremy heard Michael yell to him. Jeremy whipped his head over to his best friend, tearing his eyes away from the monster in front of him. They had been getting chased by a chimera since they set foot near the camp and had been running since. Michael had been trying to fight off the Chimera, but Jeremy was often useless in these situations. Despite this, Jeremy refused to leave the side of his best friend. He had a feeling that if he left, Michael faced a chance of death. That was something Jeremy couldn’t let happen, something that he would never forgive himself for. So, Jeremy’s solution was to die right along with him.

“No, no, I have to stay with you!” Jeremy yelled back. He needed to stop running, and he did. Being a son of Aphrodite did have advantages. He held some advantage that not a lot of his siblings held, but usually, it didn’t come easily to him. However, in a dire situation where he could die, it would have to work. His charmspeak that he had been practicing for months and months, something he’d only ever done accidentally, something that he never really can do anymore, would have to work. “Uh- S-Stop chasing us!” Jeremy yelled at the chimera. It seemed to laugh at him as if it was asking if that was the best he could do. On the bright side, if he and Michael were to die, they would die together. Afterall, it was the right way to go, with your best friend. With someone you love and care about. Aphrodite believed in love and compassion, and Jeremy strongly agreed with those beliefs. There was no better way to die, for Jeremy, than with someone he loved. His best friend.

Jeremy thought about how both of them went way back with each other, back to before either of them knew they were even demigods. They’ve been friends for years now; they met each other in kindergarten and ever since that day had been inseparable. The memory of meeting Michael has always been a good one; it’s always been a memory he could look back on and smile about, despite some bad being linked to it.

_The whole ordeal about leaving his father at home all day was frightening to a five year old, especially to Jeremy. The young boy wondered who he would share his sandwiches with. Who would play with him? Who would read him stories? Though Jeremy has been away from his father before in his preschool days, this was all still new. He went to a bigger school now, with more kids and had to stay there for a longer period of time. He didn’t want to have to be alone. Jeremy tried not to cry over it, because he didn’t want the other kids to make fun of him when he cried, but Jeremy felt as if he couldn’t stop the sadness welling up inside of him; he couldn’t stop the tears from coming out of his eyes._

_“Jeremy, I promise that it will all be alright. I’m sure you’ll meet someone and will love playing with them.” His father assured him with a smile. Jeremy sniffled a bit before the teacher gently grabbed his hand. “I’ll be here again soon, and we’ll go home and read your favorite book.” He smiled down at Jeremy, to which Jeremy responded by nodding and wiping some tears._

_“Jeremy, right? You must be Jeremy Heere. Let me show you around the classroom,” his teacher said. While she sounded sweet, when Jeremy looked up at her, he was met with a terrifying monster of a teacher. He immediately snatched his hand away and smiled shyly up at the teacher._

_“I-I think I’m okay. Don’t show me around.” Jeremy said, unintentionally and unknowingly using charmspeak. The monster stared at him blankly before nodding and leaving Jeremy alone._

_Jeremy looked around the room. Everyone seemed so unphased by the obviously terrifying thing in their classroom, and he searched for a sign that he didn’t just have a wild imagination like everyone told him. Then, he spotted him. He spotted the only other person far too terrified to even color the paper he had in front of him. Jeremy decided to sit next to him. “Do you see that?” Jeremy whispered. The boy whipped his head too look at him, nodding._

_“I always see things like that.” the boy nodded. “My name’s Michael.” the boy, Michael, said to him. Jeremy smiled, despite being terrified just like him._

_“My name’s Jeremy.”_

“Jeremy, you idiot, snap out of it! Watch out for the fucking-” Michael’s voice was drowned out by the sound of Jeremy’s yelp as the Chimera spat a blaze of fire in his direction. He stumbled to the side, narrowly avoiding being engulfed by the flames. 

_Jeremy was afraid of monsters. Which was stupid, he told himself, because he was in fifth grade now and fifth graders didn't get scared. At least that's what Jack, the popular boy who shoved him in the hallways and locked him in the janitor's closet, despite his cries to ‘S-Stop, please, there might be m-m-monsters, let me out!’, said in response to his pleas. Jack didn’t know, didn’t know about the kindergarten teacher, about all the frightening creatures Jeremy had bumped into over the years, because Michael was the only one who understood, who could see what he saw._

_Jeremy pounded at the door frantically, not daring to look at his surroundings because if he did he might see something he didn’t want to. “Jack, please, let me out, open the door, let me out!” At his last insistence to be let out of the closet, the door was yanked open by an entranced looking Jack, sending Jeremy tumbling to the floor. Jeremy scrambled away from the closet, backing up against the wall and evening out his shaky breathing. Looking up, he saw a confused looking Jack._

_“What the- how the heck did you do that?” Jack asked, narrowing his eyes at Jeremy. He moved slowly towards the other boy._

_“G-get away from me, Jack,” Jeremy said without conviction. Jack continued towards him._

_“No, how’d you do that? You like, told me what to do, and I listened. It was- It was freaky. What kind of freak are you? You’re scared of monsters like you think they’re real! You’re such a weirdo!” Jack exclaimed, crouching down in front of Jeremy and flicking him in between the eyes. Jeremy flinched and stayed silent._

_“Hey, dick! Get away from my friend!” This caused Jeremy to look up, smiling as he caught sight of his best friend Michael. He’d never admit it, but Jeremy thought it was super cool when Michael said bad words._

_Jack scoffed and walked away, mumbling “Freaks,” under his breath. Jeremy’s smile faltered and he glanced away from his friend._

_“Hey, Michael, uh, th-thanks. For making him go away,” Jeremy muttered. Michael’s eyebrows creased with concern as he recognized that something was wrong with his friend._

_“Jere, what happened there? What did he do to you? Was he being mean again, because I’ll punch him,” he asked concernedly, sitting down next to Jeremy on the cold tile of the school’s hallway._

_Jeremy grinned wobbily. “Just… you know. The usual. He locked me in the janitor’s closet and I got scared because of…. y’know. Monsters.” He looked down. “Which is dumb, but whatever._

_Michael raised his eyebrows. “Dumb? Miah, being scared of monsters isn’t dumb. Not being scared of them is dumb; they’re freaking scary! And dangerous, and hairy!” That drew a chuckle out of Jeremy. “Don’t worry though; you’ll never have to deal with a monster on your own. I’ll always be there with you.”_

_Michael made Jeremy less afraid of monsters._

Jeremy shook his head, looking at Michael, who had his sword in his hand already. Jeremy wished he could fight with his friend, but knew he would only mess up the situation and make it worse. “You will stop attacking us!” Jeremy squeaked, rolling away from the stream of fire. It didn’t work, since the Chimera turned to Michael rather than him.

_“What if I told you there was a place where we could both be safe?” Michael asked one day. The boys were in Eighth grade now, and things still felt the same. The both of them were still bullied for their belief in monsters, their dyslexia and adhd, which was not a good match for either of them. Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows for a second and put his sandwich down._

_“What do you mean?” Jeremy countered. Michael had that look on his face that basically told him that he had unbelievable news, something that happened often for Michael, but this seemed bigger. This seemed different._

_“So my mom was talking to me right? And she told me something interesting about my dad.” Michael smiled brightly. Jeremy nodded, as if to tell him to continue. “She said he’s special, like us! Apparently there’s a camp for special kids like us, who see monsters and stuff? And get this, my mom will drive us to New York every summer for it if your dad agrees!” Michael grinned, somehow more widely than before._

_Jeremy shrugged. “If it’s just a summer camp then he’ll probably let me go.” Jeremy nodded. “What’s called?”_

_“Camp Halfblood.” Michael answered with the same smile._

“Jere!” Michael yelled over the mixed screeches of the Chimera. “Try again! You can do it, I believe in you!”

Jeremy nodded and thought to himself again. He had to do this, he had to be able to do this. He needed to do this. If he didn’t, Michael would die. Even though Michael was the son of Hades and his life revolved around death, he was so much more than that. Michael was a son of Hades and a descendant of Apollo, but more importantly, Jeremy’s best friend. The person who was always there for him and the person he would always be there for. He had to protect Michael with everything in him. So while Jeremy wasn’t good at combat, he had one weapon he could use to his advantage. In order to save Michael and himself, he needed to use it. Jeremy felt a small growl escape his throat, but barely heard it over the Chimera. “You will leave us alone and never return here!” Jeremy yelled, his voice overpowering the Chimera this time. He shut his eyes tightly and shielded his face as all his courage went away, although he noticed that something around him changed. He saw the fire dissipate into nothing, there were no more flame near him and his best friend. Jeremy peaked out from his fingers and looked around before smiling to himself. “I-I did it!” He grinned as he watched the Chimera leave. 

Jeremy’s legs buckled underneath him as the adrenaline dissipated and the shock and disbelief set in. He accepted that he was about to fall gracelessly to the ground before he felt strong arms wrap around him and pick him up, spinning him in a circle.

“Jeremy! You did it, that was amazing! I knew you had it in you!” Michael exclaimed. “Man, I thought we-”

“We were gonna die! Michael! We almost freaking died!” Jeremy exclaimed, returning the hug and then breaking free to link his hand with Michael’s and pull him up Halfblood Hill. “Dude, my life literally flashed before my eyes. Our lives flashed before my eyes. Oh my gods. I thought we were gonna die at sixteen.”

“Dude, I know! That was insane! When it was like-” Michael made a vague gesture with his hands that resembled fire being spewed from his mouth. “And you were like-” He mimed Jeremy jumping out of the way of the flames, a girly scream escaping his lips. “Gods, if you weren’t almost about to die it would’ve been fucking hilarious, Jere!”

Jeremy flushed indignantly. “I do not sound like that, Michael,” he insisted. “I’d expect a little more respect for the person who just saved our lives, man.” They reached the top of the hill and collapsed on the ground, exhausted. “Shit, I’m more exhausted from climbing the hill than from that whole battle,” Jeremy groaned. 

“Dude, I know. You’d think they’d install a magic escalator or something,” Michael replied. He wrapped an arm around Jeremy and tugged him in for one more half hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, Jere,” he said. 

Jeremy smiled softly. “I’m glad you’re okay, too, Micah.” The boys were charred, battered, and exhausted, but they’d finally made it to safety.


	2. Two

Though the trip to camp had been uneventful until getting to the hill, Jeremy was exhausted from fighting. He assumed Michael was also tired, and thankfully there was no real damage to either of them. There were no burns or cuts, which was incredibly lucky. He wondered if it was a gift from his mother, if she had protected them from any real harm, though part of him doubted it. He sometimes got dreams from his mother, but it was never a constant thing. Jeremy couldn't help but wish that it was a constant thing at times, but he was lucky to get dreams from his godly parent. Most kids barely got any sign from their parent, some of them stayed in the Hermes cabin, never getting claimed. Both he and Michael were lucky to have been claimed. The two decided it would be a good idea to return to their respective cabins and unwind before the game of capture the flag began in a few hours.

 

To be quite honest, Jeremy was exhausted from almost dying and running uphill. While he looked in shape, he certainly wasn’t, considering he was terrible in combat. So, his best solution was to rest up before another tiring activity of hiding in a tree with Michael until the end of capture the flag. “Hey man,” Jeremy said before he left, “I’m taking a nap. Could you wake me up before capture the flag?” Jeremy asked. 

 

“Of course! Enjoy your nap, charmspeaking hero.” Michael grinned, ruffling with Jeremy’s hair before walking into the direction of the Hades cabin. Jeremy smiled after his best friend, fixing his hair a bit as a force of habit, before turning back around and bumping into someone. Jeremy momentarily paused before realizing who it was.

 

“Gah! I-I’m so so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going, I-I’m like, really  _ really _ tired, I-I’m so sorry!” Jeremy rambled in apologies. He always bumped into people, especially people that were going to judge him somehow. While not everyone was rude to Jeremy and Michael, a lot of kids at camp half blood seemed to be a bit judgemental to say the least.

 

The person he bumped into, better known as Christine Canigula, a daughter of Dionysus, and a long time crush of Jeremy’s, just smiled and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Jeremy, right?” Christine asked, the same, sweet smile on her face.

 

Jeremy wished his smile was like that. He wished his smile wasn’t so awkward and could be sweet or cute, though that didn’t seem to be the case. “Yeah! Yeah, yeah yeah  _ yeah  _ it’s Jeremy. You- You’re Christine right?” Jeremy asked, pretending not to know who she was, all while the cursed awkward smile was plastered on his face.

 

“Yep!” Christine nodded, popping the ‘P’. “Well, I have a few people to talk into doing a performance with me next week. But it’s a surprise so I can’t tell you what it is!” She said in a bright voice. “Unless you want in on it.” Christine added.

 

“No no, I-I’m not the guy for that job.” Jeremy shook his head, playing with the sleeve on his blue cardigan.

 

Christine frowned a bit, but seemed to have shrugged it off with the sweet smile reappearing. “That’s okay! Maybe the next one. I have to go, but it was great talking to you!” Christine waved to him in a goodbye. 

 

“Ye-Yeah, you too!” Jeremy nodded, waving back. As he watched Christine leave, the tight feeling in his chest left and he was able to breathe again. Jeremy decided it was best to avoid speaking to anyone else, since it seemed no one else in the camp was as nice to him as Christine was.

 

Upon entering the Aphrodite cabin, he realized not much had changed from the last time he had come here. He walked to his usual bed, which happened to have a window next to it. He took responsibility for filling that window with plants every year. The first year he had been at camp half blood, Jeremy had planted his own flower. It didn’t die, people luckily regularly water his plants when he isn’t there to do it. He assumes that they hate watering his plants, but keeps them so their cabin will always receive the highest score when being awarded points on how clean their cabin was. Out of the backpack on his bed, he pulled a small cactus with a pink flower. He had chosen things that didn’t need too much watering so that he wouldn’t be a bother to his siblings, since none of them liked him anyways. He never paid any mind to it, not a lot of people liked him as it was. Michael has always been the person that has liked him enough to be his best friend, and he was glad at least one person other than his parents loved him. 

 

Jeremy laid down on his bed after clearing his bag off of the bed, putting it in his trunk at the end of his bed. He hoped he didn’t have any dreams. Demigods never got normal dreams, and he would know. As a child, Jeremy would have many nightmares of the monsters that wanted to eat him, all of them terrifying. Though, after a short while, a beautiful woman claiming to be his mother would swoop in during the nightmares and take him to some place safer and comfort him. Those dreams felt safe, but he didn’t have them as often. He continued to hope for no dreams during his nap. However, as he drifted off to sleep, he had a feeling it wouldn’t be dreamless.

 

_ When falling asleep, he found himself to be in a dark room. The room had grey walls, a high ceiling, and a black floor that made it seem like he was falling. There was also, notably, no furniture in the room. There were cobwebs in a few corners, and he also noticed there were no windows, no doors. It was just him in an empty, dark space. There was no light either, and he stayed in the room for what felt like a couple minutes. He had shouted ‘Hello?’ over and over again, but didn’t get much of a response. There didn’t seem to be anyone else in the room with him, and Jeremy wondered why he was having this dream. “Jeremy Heere.” a familiar voice said. It wasn’t a voice that was remembered through warmth, more so a voice remembered with coldness and fear. It startled him, and he involuntarily gasped as panic struck through him. The voice snickered a bit before continuing. “Oh do I have plans for you. Do as I instruct, and I will-” _

 

_ The dream changed suddenly. It changed from the dark, empty, cold room to a shopping mall. Not any shopping mall, but the one he and Michael often went to for video games since the game store there constantly had new games in stock. It was empty, all except for one person. “I thought you might have wanted to get out of that dream.” a female voice said softly. The person turned around, revealing herself to be none other than his mother. _

 

_ “M-Mom? Wha- Why- How- Why are you here?” Jeremy finally got out. He’d seen his mother a few times in his dreams. Usually it was in times of trouble when he was younger, but he never knew it was her until he got to camp. Aphrodite simply smiled at him.  _

 

_ “To protect you. Though, I can’t do this all the time.” She said, holding up a blue and white checkered shirt. She winced at it slightly, and mumbled a quick ‘no’ before putting it back on the rack. “I’ll be visiting camp soon. There’s danger coming.” Aphrodite added. _

 

_ “Danger? Wha-What kind of danger?” he asked, joining her in casual shopping. He didn’t know why he had joined her, but it felt right for him to do so. Besides, maybe he would wake up with a few extra shirts or outfits. _

 

_ “Danger I haven’t even seen before.” Aphrodite shook her head. Jeremy couldn’t figure out if she was shaking her head at the shirt she was holding or the danger. "Danger I believe you can stop.” at this, Jeremy looked over to his mother. _

 

_ “Life threatening danger?” Jeremy clarified. _

 

_ “Yes.” Aphrodite nodded, looking back at him. _

 

_ “Then… How can I be the right person for that?” Jeremy asked. “I can barely even use my charmspeak, I can’t fight whatsoever, I’m scrawny, and I’m nervous all the time. How could I save people with all of these terrible qualities?” He asked. _

 

_ Aphrodite put the clothes she had back on the rack. “While I agree that you aren’t good with combat, you’re still the person I believe is right for this.” She said, turning full towards him. They were the same height, so it wasn’t much of a difficulty to look at his mother. “You can use your charmspeak, you used it today. You just have to mean what you say, and believe in your mind that it’s your best option.” Aphrodite said. “As for the scrawny and nervousness, it’s completely okay. You don’t have terrible qualities unless you look at them in bad lighting.” She smiled, trailing her hand down his cheek and pinching it. “You’re growing into a wonderful man. Both you and your friend. Michael’s his name, correct?” _

 

_ “Yeah.” Jeremy nodded in confirmation. _

 

_ “I can’t wait to meet him.” Aphrodite smiled. The mall started fading away, as did his mother’s face. “I think our time here is through, but remember what I said with charmspeaking. Oh! It would also help if-” _

 

Jeremy woke up to Michael lightly shaking him. “Dude, when did you get these clothes?” Michael asked him, pointing at a neatly folded small stack of clothes. “I’ve literally never seen you wear anything like that.”

 

Jeremy smiled a bit before shaking his head, wondering what his mother was going to say about his charmspeak. Maybe when she visited she could finish her sentence if he asked about it. “Gift from mom.” Jeremy nodded. “She was in my dream.” he added.

 

“Well what was it like? Your dreams?” Michael asked. Jeremy paused, trying to think a bit for all the information.

 

“The first one was so… weird. I was in a dark and empty room, and this voice was threatening me. Then suddenly I was at the mall, and shopped with mom. Apparently she’s paying a visit to camp, she wants to send me on a quest.” Jeremy said. He left a few parts out, like his charmspeak and Aphrodite wanting to meet Michael for herself.

 

“Dude! Your first quest! You should go for it! This could change  _ everything! _ ” Michael exclaimed. He had a smile on his lips, a large smile that screamed encouragement, and his eyes were so bright, Jeremy thought the room would explode from his joy.

 

“I-I don’t know if I’ll even take it- I mean c’mon, have you seen me? And on a quest? It seems pretty impossible.” Jeremy shook his head slightly, looking away from Michael.

 

“Well maybe if I went-”

 

“No!” Jeremy said quickly. “Mikey, after all we’ve been through? I can’t just ask you to go on a life threatening quest, you could die! And if you die what would I do?” Jeremy rambled. “You’re my best friend, I can’t just ask you to die for me!”

 

“Well why not?” Michael shrugged, sitting down next to Jeremy on the bed. “You’re also my best friend. It’s not like I have anyone else in the world. If you died, I would go crazy trying to make a deal with my dad to get you back to the living. If you do go on this quest, I’m going with you.” 

 

“No, you aren’t. I can’t ask you to do this for me. I can’t put you in danger,” Jeremy finalized, standing up. “Can we just drop it, please? I don’t want to put your life in danger, and I don’t want to go on a stupid quest anyway. I just want to go hide in a tree during capture the flag with you.”

 

Michael sighed. He didn’t look happy about dropping the subject but nodded anyways. “Okay, let's go avoid getting beat up by anyone.” He stood up, running a hand through his hair. Jeremy smiled at his best friend slightly and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. 

 

“That’s the spirit.” Jeremy grinned, watching the grin spread on Michael’s face as they walked out of the cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy oh boy was this fun  
> Comments and kudos are loved and appreciated!!  
> Check out our tumblr blogs and yell at us about the au here -> @/jeremyaqui and @/andthenidied


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> C-c-c-c-capture the flag! (and a visit from someone special)  
> Also, a switch to michaels pov

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo its @lafayetti here,, hope u enjoy the chapter !!

When Jeremy and Michael emerged from the Aphrodite cabin, they were greeted by snickering. Michael felt Jeremy tense up beside him. He looked up to see Rich Goranski, son of Hephaestus, Jake Dillinger, son of Nike, and Jenna Rolan, daughter of Hermes standing in front of them. 

“Yo Mell, what were you and pretty boy doing in there for all that time? Fucki-” Jenna rolled her eyes and Jake snickered at the comment, but Michael cut Rich off with a cold glare, despite the heat rising in his cheeks. 

“Fuck off Goranski, go set something on fire,” Michael retorted angrily. He began to walk away, Jeremy following behind him. 

Rich smirked and stuck out a foot as Jeremy brushed by, successfully causing him to stumble into Michael, who caught him before he fell on the ground. “Maybe I will,” he said, flames dancing across the fingers of his left hand. “I’m feeling a little pyromaniacal today.” He extinguished the flame and rose an eyebrow at Michael and Jeremy, the latter of which quickly extracted himself from the former’s arms with a blush. 

“L-leave us a-alo- leave us a-alone, Ri-rich,” Jeremy stuttered out, fiddling with the sleeve of his cardigan anxiously. Michael frowned and stepped between Jeremy and Rich. 

“Get lost, dickhead,” he said menacingly. The air cooled around him and the new flame that Rich had conjured in his hand flickered out. Rich held his hands up in mock surrender. 

“Alright, alright, I’ll go! Jesus.” He sauntered away, but not before turning back with a final wave and a “Catch you later, pretty boy!” Jake and Jenna looked slightly apologetic, but said nothing before following after Rich. 

Michael could practically see the steam coming out of Jeremy’s ears. He placed a hand on Jeremy’s shoulder concernedly. “Jere, are you good? You seem a little… agitated.” 

Jeremy nodded quickly, shoving his hands into his pockets and hunching his shoulders. “Y-yeah, no, I’m fi-fine. Great. Fan-fantastic,” he tried to assure Michael with a tense smile. Michael could see right through his friend’s flustered stuttering, but decided not to press him any more. 

“Right. Well, we’d better go before we’re late for everyone’s favorite game,capture the flag,” Michael said sarcastically, suppressing a groan. Jeremy, however, had no qualms with groaning very loudly for anyone in the vicinity to hear.

“Man, I freaking _hate_ capture the flag.”

 

\---

 

Jeremy hated capture the flag. While he never admitted it out loud, Michael knew that it made him feel inferior and useless, because he insisted that wasn’t good at combat, strategizing, or anything else that the game required. He thought it was dumb that all the campers were required to participate unless injured, and had spent many Fridays trying to convince Michael to do him a solid and deck him in the nose to get him out of the activity. While Michael refused to cause his friend bodily harm, he always tried to do what he could to make capture the flag more bearable for Jeremy. 

It was midway through the game, and Michael and Jeremy were sat underneath a tree in the middle of the forest, far enough from their team’s flag that, hopefully, nobody would bother them. Jeremy looked awkward and uncomfortable in his armor, and his helmet was on the ground next to him. His already naturally messy hair was even further mussed up from the helmet, and his face was flushed with laughter. Michael thought he looked pretty. 

“Ahaha, make it-” Jeremy snorted. “M-make it dance! Michael, make it dance,” Jeremy demanded, covering his smiling mouth with one hand and gesturing towards the skeletal mouse Michael had conjured up with the other. He had Jeremy in hysterics because he was making the skeleton do stupid stuff and giving the mouse a dumb voice. “Ha- aha- what if- ahahaha- what if, Michael-” he grabbed Michael’s arm, hunching over and gasping for breath through his high pitched giggles. “What if you made the mouse _dab?”_ At this Jeremy was no longer able to contain himself and gave himself over to the waves of laughter. 

Michael somehow managed to make the mouse skeleton look indignant at Jeremy’s suggestion. “How _dare_ you suggest that I do something so stupid?” Michael spoke in a fake deep New York accent, moving the mouse’s jaw as he spoke. “That’s blatant disrespect for the friggin’ dead, man!” Watching Jeremy in hysterics, Michael couldn’t help but let out a few chuckles with him. 

“M-Michael, stop, stop, I can’t breathe!” Jeremy exclaimed, tears streaming down his face. Michael considered his job of making capture the flag a little less miserable for Jeremy complete.

“Ok, ok, calm down before you have an asthma attack or something, jeez, Jerebear.” Michael patted the other boy’s back fondly. Jeremy was opening his mouth to retort when the sound of a twig snapping echoed from the bushes near them. Both boys froze, the smiles falling off their faces. Michael snatched Jeremy’s helmet off the ground and smushed it onto the other boy’s head, earning a squeak from him. “Shh,” Michael whispered, gaze not leaving the bushes. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and he subconsciously positioned himself between Jeremy and the area where the sound had come from. He was about to check out the bushes when he hear Jeremy let out another squeal. “Jere, what did I-” he turned around to see Jeremy looking at him with frightened doe eyes, in the grasp of Rich Goranski. 

Rich had Jeremy in a choke hold, and he ripped his helmet back off, letting it clatter noisily to the ground. While his left arm was wrapped around Jeremy’s neck, the fist on his right arm was ablaze with fire. 

“Rich, what the hell?” Michael exclaimed, brandishing his sword. “We’re on the same team! Let him go!” His protests fell upon deaf ears, and when Rich failed to respond, instead maneuvering Jeremy so that he was pinned against the tree he and Michael had been leaning against minutes earlier, Michael noticed the dazed look in Rich’s eyes and the blue tint they had seemed to take on. 

“Jeremy Heere.” Rich’s voice was lacking any inflection, the unnerving polar opposite of his usual enthusiastic speech patterns. _It’s like he’s possessed,_ Michael thought. “You should have listened to me when I visited you last. Your mother will not always turn up to save you, Jeremiah,” he taunted. Michael’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Jeremy’s legs flailed uselessly underneath him as his hands came up to claw at Rich’s- or, as Michael decided to call him from then on- Possessed Rich’s hand where it had him pinned by his throat to the tree, but his attempts at escape were futile. 

“Jeremy!” Michael went to dash towards Possessed Rich, but with a wave of the latter’s hand, a wall of fire blocked him from reaching the other two. He was left trapped and unable to help his friend, and the rest of what was being said between Possessed Rich and Jeremy was drowned out by the crackling roar of the flames. Michael looked around, but there were no other campers in sight. He was going to have to deal with this himself. With a guttural yell of “Let him _go!_ ”, Michael plunged his sword into the ground. A deep crack broke the wall of fire in two, and Michael leapt through the opening. Mustering the last of his strength, he raised the butt of his sword and whacked Possessed Rich in the head with it. The hand around Jeremy’s throat relented and Jeremy collapsed to the ground, coughing and retching. The last thing Michael saw before darkness enveloped him was the blue tint disappearing from Rich’s eyes and his mouth moving to form a dazed apology. Both boys collapsed to the ground at the same time, and when the rest of the campers finally showed up to investigate they found Rich, Michael, and Jeremy in an unconscious heap at the bottom of the tree. 

 

\--- 

 

Michael woke up in an uncomfortable bed to the sound of hushed voices arguing. 

“Sweetheart, I know you don’t like it, but-” this was the soft, melodic voice of a woman, which Michael couldn’t place. She was cut off by a much more familiar voice. 

“Mom! It’s a terrible idea! I can barely even handle a bad dream on my own, let alone a-” Jeremy’s hoarse voice faltered as Michael sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Michael! You’re awake!” As quickly as he had sat up, Michael was pushed back down by a soft blob with messy hair tackling him and squeezing him tightly. “Thank the gods, you’re okay.”

Michael’s arms snaked up to pat Jeremy’s back. “Hey, I’m fine. It’s okay,” he assured Jeremy, silently relishing in the fact that his best friend was safe. He grabbed Jeremy by the shoulders and held him away from himself, inspecting the other boy. “Jeremy, your neck-” Michael’s eyes widened with concern. Jeremy’s neck had a prominent bruise in the shape of a hand wrapped around it. 

Jeremy’s hand came up to rub at the bruise self consciously. “I-it’s nothing, really. I’m fine.” He went to open his mouth again before he was cut off by soft cooing. 

“Aww, you boys are just _adorable_!” Michael, who had forgotten about the other person he had heard in the room, finally looked up to take in his surroundings. He was in the camp’s infirmary. The woman who had spoken was a thin woman, slightly shorter than Michael, and looked familiar, with messy brown hair, big blue eyes, and a smattering of light freckles across her nose. Her outfit seemed to consist only of a thin night dress that reached the middle of her thighs. She smiled knowingly as Michael’s eyes widened in realization. This was Jeremy’s mom. Jeremy had removed himself from Michael’s lap with a light blush on his cheeks at Aphrodite’s comment. “You must be Michael!” The woman exclaimed, moving over to where the two boys sat. Michael nodded. “I have to apologize for my attire, I was just lounging in bed when I got the news that something had happened here at camp. Oh, I have heard so much about you! Jeremy just never stops; it’s always ‘Michael said this’ and ‘Michael did that’. It’s quite cute, if I’m being honest,” she pronounced. 

“I- um, well-” Michael tripped over his words, face burning hot. He was saved from having to formulate an articulate response by Jeremy, who let out a long groan, covering his face with his hands. 

“Ugh, _mom_ , you’re so embarrassing! Leave Michael alone,” he whined. Aphrodite patted his back fondly. 

“Jeremy, I was trying to segue into the shovel talk!” Her eyes had a mischievous glint and her mouth was set in a small smirk. 

“The shovel- ugh, mom! Stop it!” Jeremy threaded his hands in his hair and tugged in frustration. Michael watched with amusement. 

“Uh, sorry, ma’am, but- uh, why are you actually here?” Michael inquired. He figured something pretty serious must be going on for a goddess to be showing her face at camp. 

Aphrodite’s smirk morphed into a full blown grin, which looked unnervingly similar to the grin Jeremy got when he got his worst ideas. “Why, I’m here to give Jeremy here a quest, of course!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback is appreciated!! check us out on tumblr @/jeremyaqui and @/andthenidied


	4. Four

Michael’s eyes widened at Aphrodite’s statement, a smile appeared on his lips nonetheless. He was proud of Jeremy. He deserved the world to Michael. If anyone deserved a quest from their godly parent, it was Jeremy himself.

 

“Mom, I have already told you, everyone at this camp hates me and wouldn’t take me seriously! Plus, How would I defend myself?” Jeremy protested, to which Michael rolled his eyes at, unknowingly in sync with Aphrodite.

 

“Michael fights well. So does Christine. They will take you seriously!” Aphrodite compromised, as if Michael wasn’t in the room. Though, it was like she knew what he was thinking about as she turned to him. “Wouldn’t you, Michael?” Aphrodite purred, a pout that was insanely similar to one Michael used to see on Jeremy when he would want to win at video games.

 

This compelled Michael to nod, pretty much not even on his own accord. “I always take Jeremy seriously. Even when he loses horribly at all our video games.” Michael grinned.

 

“See?” Aphrodite grinned at her son.

 

Jeremy turned red, his entire face and ears flushing as he covered his face. “Okay, even if Michael and I were able to go on this quest, then what about Christine? She has all her performances, would she really give up all that for a quest? What if we have to take Rich, o-or um- What if we have to- to take uhh, Chloe! Chloe- she  _ hates _ me.”

 

Aphrodite scoffed a bit. “Christine will go on this quest with both of you. I have my ways.” She shrugged. This made Jeremy groan loudly.

 

“Mom,” Jeremy said, exaggerating the ‘o’ in mom, “ Please don’t bribe Christine or something.” 

 

“Jere, for the record, I think we have nothing to lose, even though we have no idea what this quest is about.” Michael cut in, looking at Aphrodite expectantly. 

 

“Hm? Oh, all will be revealed at tonight’s camp fire.” Aphrodite said, shrugging a bit.

 

Another groan sounded from Jeremy, though not as annoyed as before. “Okay, I’m going to be telling Chiron about your visit.” Jeremy mumbled, though loud enough for them both to hear him. Jeremy was walking away, and when out of earshot, Aphrodite turned to Michael.

 

“If I’m correct, you’re a descendant of Apollo, is that right?” Aphrodite asked. Her eyes shined and glinted as if she knew something that everyone else didn’t, a look that he had, thankfully, never seen on Jeremy.

 

“Yeah. You look a lot like Jeremy. The resemblance is uncanny.” Michael nodded to the Goddess.

 

She chuckled a bit, smiling down at the demigod. “I appear as the image most beautiful to you. Meaning…” Aphrodite trained off, grinning down at Michael.

 

At this, Michael’s face flushed, and he sat up from the bed to turn away. Michael chuckled nervously, since his biggest secret was being revealed to not only the Goddess of Love, but also Jeremy’s mother. “Yeah… I think I’m just going to go,” Michael said, getting up to leave.

 

Aphrodite grabbed Michael’s arm. It wasn’t harsh, it was gentle. She was barely holding him back, so if Michael really wanted to, he could shake off the Goddess quickly. But Michael didn’t want to. 

 

After a few seconds of her clinging onto him, she let go. “It’s okay to fall in love with people, even if we think that they don’t love us back.” She smiled slightly. Michael scoffed a bit, and left without another word spoken to the Goddess.

  
  


Dinner was awkward, with Michael and the only sibling he had, his cabin counselor Dustin, sitting as far apart as possible. Michael had a perfect view of the Aphrodite cabin’s table. He and Jeremy usually had conversations with facial expressions, which was an every night tradition, since neither of them could sit together, due to some reason Michael barely remembered. He was already an outcast, being the complete opposite of your general Hades kid, which was basically being a very angsty teenager for all eternity. He wondered if that was the reason not a lot of people took a liking to him. 

 

The only reason why he and Jeremy weren’t having their silent conversation was because of Aphrodite talking to her children, mainly Jeremy, and all his siblings trying to get closer to their mother, and in turn trying to push Jeremy out of their way. Michael scoffed a bit, letting his fork fall onto his plate. He didn’t even notice Dustin until he heard him speak from right next to him.

 

“Trouble in paradise?” Dustin asked. Michael jumped at that, turning to Dustin. Dustin was much more muscular than Michael, he was amazing in combat, and their only resemblance was their matching black hair and dark eyes. Other than that, Dustin was a pale, taller than Michael, kind of buff guy that hardly anyone ever messed with. 

 

“That’s stupid.” Michael rolled his eyes. “He’s my best friend, there’s nothing wrong with us. Plus, his mom is here for crying out loud,” he added, taking a long drink of sprite while Dustin spoke.

 

”Why is Aphrodite here? Is it because she wants to guide you with your quest for love?” Dustin said sarcastically, to which made Michael choke on his drink. “Oh, so that  _ is _ the case.” He noted.

 

“No! Of course not! Why would you even- Okay, that is not the reason. I barely know what’s happening. According to the Goddess of Love herself, all will be revealed at the camp fire. Okay? So stop grilling me! Go back to ignoring me daily!” Michael exclaimed, keeping quiet enough so people wouldn’t take much notice to his small outburst. 

 

Dustin just rolled his eyes before shrugging. “That’s fair.” He said, getting up from his spot on the table. “Oh, and by the way, you’re about as red as that hoodie you always wear.” Dustin nodded at him, going back to the far side of the table, away from Michael.

 

Michael looked back over to the Aphrodite table, seeing the Goddess herself raise an eyebrow at him, as if to ask him a question he often asked himself.

 

_ Why keep hiding? _

 

Well, Michael had many,  _ many  _ reasons to keep hiding his feelings from Jeremy, the world, even himself. It would probably ruin everything.

  
  
  


\---

  
  
  


The campfire roared on with it’s usually happiness, and this time, Jeremy and Michael could actually sit next to each other.

 

“So, why was Dustin talking to you? He hardly ever does.” Jeremy asked. Michael shrugged, playing with the strings on his hoodie.

 

“Just some crap about cleaning up after myself better.” Michael lied.

 

“You have the cleanest room I’ve ever seen that isn’t mine.” Jeremy deadpanned. Michael just shrugged.

 

“Yeah, which is why I got kinda pissed.” Michael countered. Jeremy seemed to buy it, or he just didn’t want to press anymore. Either way, the topic was quickly dropped from their discussion.

 

“Attention campers!” Chiron’s voice rang, causing everyone to look at the centaur. Next to him was Dionysus, who looked to be in his usual state- exhausted and annoyed. Different from usual, though, next to Chiron also stood Aphrodite, now dressed in something more than just her nightie. She now wore a blue silk dress that reached down to her knee, her before messy hair being tired back into one of those fancy braided buns that Michael could never figure out. “The Goddess Aphrodite has granted us a visit, and wants to speak to the camp. Please listen to her, give her your full attention.” Chiron said.

 

“Yeah, that won’t be hard.” Michael heard the voice that belonged to none other than Chloe Valentine, a daughter of Zeus, whisper. She was probably whispering to her best friend Brooke, daughter of Demeter, judging by the girlish giggle given after the snarky comment. Michael rolled his eyes at both of them, but no one else seemed to notice the giggling or comments.

 

“Yes! I am here to grant a quest!” Aphrodite smiled. “You see, Samuel, or how everyone here knew him better as Squip, left the camp a few months back. Myself and a few of the other Olympians believe he is trying to wake up Kronos.” She said, her face growing darker as she spoke. “He’s been growing very powerful, infiltrating dreams, and the incident today was also his doing,” Aphrodite explained to the camp. The fire was almost pitch black, but she continued. “If we don’t stop him now, there will be another Titan war. There’s no need for war,” Aphrodite was interrupted by a few groans from the Ares cabin, “And so I am here to give a quest to the three Demigods I know can stop all of this from happening!” Aphrodite said, her face going from the dark, mysterious look she had before to the crazy grin that reminded Michael of Jeremy’s grin. “So, my son, Jeremy Heere, will be leading the quest. Michael Mell, son of Hades will be accompanying him, along with Christine Canigula, daughter of-”

 

“ _ My _ daughter!” Dionysus interrupted, looking to Aphrodite angrily. “You think you can just put her life in danger because you’re the Goddess of love? You think you can just throw  _ my daughter  _ into a life or death quest?” Dionysus shook with anger as he spoke. “No! I won’t allow that. If you let Jerry There lead her on this quest, she could  _ die! _ ”

 

Aphrodite pressed her lips into a thin line. “Well, I’ve already settled it. They’ll be off to the Oracle in the morning, given their prophecy, and be on their way!” Aphrodite said, her annoyance melting into a smile. 

 

Michael was very surprised at the whole situation. She seemed to have everything under control and already planned, at least planned from this point on. Michael just wanted to be left alone to sleep before some quest, before everything in his life changed. Before everything happened. Before he knows what happens. He hardly wanted any of this to take place, but wanted to be there for his best friend, especially because his best friend’s crush was going to be on the quest. 

 

“Well, I think now is a good time to send all our campers off.” Chiron said after a few beats of tense silence. Michael let out a breath of relief, watching everyone around him stand up.

 

“Hey Jeremy, good luck on your quest! Just wanted to be the first one to say it,” Brooke said, tapping Jeremy on the shoulder. She seemed genuine, with a small smile on her lips.

 

Chloe rose an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. “Let’s just hope the both of you don’t make a mistake and let Squip get away with waking Kronos. Especially with Pretty Boy’s dysfunctional charmspeak,” Chloe sneered, walking away.

 

Brooke looked at both of them apologetically, and went after her friend. Michael looked back to Jeremy. He smiled a bit at his best friend, noticing how nicely the light of the campfire lit up Jeremy’s face.

 

“So, quest pals!” A voice from behind Michael said. Michael turned around in surprise, seeing none other than Christine herself. Michael thought she was a sweet girl. She’s never said anything awful to him about not being a good son of Hades, she was always nice to him, and even went out of her way to say hello to him. 

 

“You okay after your dad’s little outburst?” Michael asked, knowing Jeremy was probably to nervous to say anything.

 

“Yeah,” Christine’s cheeks tinted pink. “It was a bit embarrassing, but still nice to know he cares about me. It could have gone worse.” Christine shrugged, a smile on her face. Michael patted her on the shoulder.

 

“Better than Jere over here; I just met his mom in her nightie.”

 

“M-Michael!” Jeremy exclaimed, his face going red. Michael guessed he had his face covered. He didn’t really need to turn back to see it, since he could imagine it well enough.

 

“Well, I’m off to sleep.” Michael shrugged. He turned back to Jeremy, patting him on the shoulder. “You get some rest, quest leader.” Michael smiled, leaving to his cabin.

  
  


Michael’s dreams were rather uneventful; he didn’t remember any that night, which was probably a blessing. He got dressed as normal as possible, packing a few of his clothes in a backpack he had. He had watched Dustin leave with a quick good luck, which was as much as he was going to get from him, since he hardly usually got a word from Dustin, other than the night before.

 

He walked out of his cabin, meeting Christine and Jeremy outside of the Big House. “Woah, am I late?” Michael asked.

 

Christine shook her head with a reassuring smile. “No, we just got here a minute ago.” She smiled.

 

“W-Well, this i-is- This is it.” Jeremy stuttered. Michael nodded, putting a hand on Jeremy’s shoulder and pulling him a bit close, but not  _ too  _ close. “You’ve got this. You’ve saved me from monsters thousands of times, what’s one ugly, old oracle?” Michael asked.

 

“I don’t think the Oracle would like to know you’re talking shit about her,” Jeremy countered, taking a deep breath. 

 

Michael chuckled, nodding. “You got this, Miah.”

 

“Yeah, Okay. Thanks, Mikey.” Jeremy smiled, entering the big house.

 

“So, you two seem like… really close,” Christine noted.

 

“Well, he’s my best friend. Has been since kindergarten when we both noticed our teacher was really just a terrifying monster.” Michael nodded in agreement. “He’s pretty much all I’ve got, since all the people here hate me. Except for you. I think.” Michael said, waving a bit to her.

 

Christine smiled, waving her hand. “I don’t hate anyone here. You’re a really nice person. Especially since you’re a Hades kid, it’s impressive.” Christine smiled. Michael smiled a bit back at her.

 

“You have no idea how much it means to me that you said that.” Michael smiled.

 

“Well, I mean it. You’re a good person, and more importantly, an amazing friend.” Christine nodded, fixing the strap on her backpack. They stood in comfortable silence, and soon enough, Jeremy emerged from the big house, a terrified look on his face.

 

“Woah, what did she do to you?” Michael raised his eyebrows, concern spreading across his face.

 

“Smoke-Light show. Standing. Corpse. It was ugly.” Jeremy said, shaking his head a bit. “Okay, um, th-the prophecy! P-prophecy, prophecy- It was uh- You-You shall go north to find the Sleepless child of Sleep, Uh, Son of Death wi-will rise and uh- will rise and-and fall and w- and weep, Love will save a life or c-cause a death, In-In the end th-there will be one who t-t-takes their- who takes their final breath.” Jeremy stuttered out. Michael nodded, repeating it back to himself in his head.

 

“Son of Death shall rise and fall and weep? What does that even mean?” Michael asked, wondering what the Oracle meant by it.

 

“I-I dunno man! That’s what she- That was- She said that!” Jeremy shrugged.

 

“Well, hopefully, no one dies on this trip.” Christine spoke up. Michael wondered if Christine was relieved her father didn’t hear the prophecy, but he had more important things to worry about, like what the hell he was going to do to rise, fall, and weep over.

 

“So, we just go north then and see what it leads us to?” Michael asked.

 

Jeremy nodded, fiddling with the straps of the quest backpack. “Y-Yeah, I guess. We uh- Probably could uh- go there.” Jeremy agreed.

 

Michael nodded. “Let’s hope we can just charmspeak our way into everything.” he joked, earning a small chuckle from Jeremy.

  
“Probably not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo we made an askblog! It's pretty much super undecorated and doesn't have anything on there yet because we made it just yesterday, and for now the majority of what we'll be drawing on there is traditional art for now, but even though the blog is undecorated as it is, you can start sending asks to @/askbmchalfbloods! Once we get everything else set up everything, we'll answer the asks! Also check out our blogs @/jeremyaqui and @/andthenidied

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! Check us out on tumblr @/toadhatepage and @/andthenidied !!!


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